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Leonardville United Methodist Church Records

Microfilm reel nos.: MF 2414-MF 2419

 

Introduction

Abstract

This collection consists primarily of records, 1882-1999, of the church, now known as the Leonardville United Methodist Church (and the churches which merged to form the L.U.M.C.). Found in this collection are records of members, baptisms, marriages, deaths and funerals, correspondence, mergers with other churches, fires, building construction records and blueprints, and notes concerning the churches' history and anniversaries. There is also a small series of historical essays concerning Leonardville and some of the families living in there.

This microfilmed manuscript collection circulates through interlibrary loan from KSHS. Please indicate the reel number when requesting microfilm.

Collection dates:

1882-1999

Quantity

6 microfilm reels

Microfilm cabinets in the Reference Room.

Creator

Leonardville United Methodist Church

Title

Leonardville United Methodist Church records

Identification

Microfilm reel nos.: MF 2414 - MF 2419; Manuscript collection no. 5014

Repository

Kansas State Historical Society (Topeka)

Biography

In describing the history of the church that is now the Leonardville United Methodist Church, one word predominates: Merger. This church is the product of both congregational and denominational mergers. To wit, the history of this church is a rather complex enterprise.

Many of the churches of rural Kansas started in the nineteenth century as circuit appointments, administered by itinerant ministers. Various church denominations sent traveling pastors to these local congregations, which eventually grew as the plains became populated with larger numbers of settlers.

The Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church, later known as theThe First United Methodist Church of Leonardville, started as a circuit mission in 1871 when the Timber Creek circuit separated from the Clay Center circuit and became a part of the Manhattan district of the Kansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Worship services were conducted at the Timber Creek and Sumner schools for several years. That same year, the members were able to construct a parsonage, with Reverend F. Cunningham as its first resident.

The 1870s was a trying time for new settlers in Kansas. In 1874, the region was infested with grasshoppers. That, combined with droughts, made for a number of crop failures, which in turn nearly ruined these farmer-settlers, both financially as well as psychologically. All this, soon after they had established their homesteads. This situation made it exceedingly difficult for the congregants to support their fledgling church. Relief finally came in 1881 when the Union Pacific Railroad extended its line from Garrison to Leonardville. With this new transportation artery, Leonardville grew into a economically stable community, with new houses being constructed and new shops and stores setting up businesses. Continued environmental calamities delayed construction of their own church until near the end of that decade. Finally, they broke ground in the summer of 1889 for a church that was finished in December of 1890. Rev. T. B. Gray was the minister at the time, and Bishop W. X. Nuide dedicated the church.

This building served its congregation until 1912 (twenty two years) when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. This time, the membership was able to finish constructing a new building in less than a year.

The first of many mergers took place in 1935 when the Grandville mission was transferred to Leonardville. The Kansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church closed down that charge, and its members transferred to Leonardville. A denominational merger took place four years later when the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church joined to form one Methodist Church denomination.

Ministers in nearly all Christian churches were almost always male, but in 1938, a very unusual thing happened. Mrs. Ida Dickson came to Leonardville from Beattie, Kansas, to serve as the pastor of Leonardville M.E. Church. Mrs. Dickson had been carrying on the work of her husband, Rev. Eugene Dickson, who died in May of that year. Mrs. Dickson served the Leonardville M.E. Church until 1962.

In 1966, the Methodist Church denomination began negotiations to merge with the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Considering the commonality of the historical backgrounds of these two churches, and the similarities of their organizational structure, and doctrines, it seemed only natural that these two denominations should join together into one. The merger was completed at a convention in Dallas, Texas, in 1968. At that time, the name of the Methodist church in Leonardville changed to the First United Methodist Church of Leonardville, Kansas -- not to be confused with the Leonardville United Methodist Church, which had been known as the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church until the time of the denominational merger in 1966.

The Evangelical Church in Leonardville originated in 1880, when the Kansas Association of the Evangelical Conference sent Reverend William Heiser to serve the Big Blue Circuit. This circuit had five different appointments: Swede Creek, Fancy Creek of the Big Blue Mission, Hanover, Clay Center, and Mill Creek of the Junction Mission. At the time, the area was settled largely by German immigrants, and the German language was frequently heard in the area.

Christian Hoch was a homesteader in Riley County at that time. By chance Hoch met Rev. Heiser while traveling to a local mill. Hoch requested Rev. Heiser come to his home, a couple miles south of present-day Leonardville, to baptize two of his children. Upon his arrival, Rev. Heiser found a house full of people, waiting for a church service. It was this meeting that constituted the first Evangelical church service in the area. Subsequently, church services were held at the Fairview school house every two weeks. The small group of charter members (six immigrant families from Germany) of the new Zion Evangelical Church of Leonardville, Kansas, conducted a revival in the winter of 1881. By 1884 the growing church developed plans to build its own church building. Initial pledges produced seven hundred dollars, and by the time the structure was completed, the total cost was $2,121. Unfortunately, Rev. Heiser did not live long enough to see the church completed. Rev. E. E. Evans succeeded Heiser on his death in 1885. That same year Leonardville was removed from the Big Blue Circuit and established as a mission. T. R. Nanninga served as pastor, and Derk Buss fulfilled the duties of the superinten-dent of the newly established Sunday school.

By 1888 the congregation had acquired its first parsonage, the Leonardville Mission was changed to the Leonardville station, and would later host the Kansas Evangelical Conference in 1899, 1913 and 1935.

With the passage of time, a new generation of English-speaking members grew large enough to insist on church services being conducted in English. By 1914, the services were partly in German and partly English, and by 1918, the German language had been completely phased out.

The first of several mergers which this church experienced took place in 1921 when the Mill Creek congregation, founded in 1885, merged with the Zion Evangelical Church. With this new influx of congregants, the church found it necessary to remodel and enlarge their church building, a task completed in 1923.

In 1946, a denominational merger between the Evangelical Church and United Brethren in Christ Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Upon completion of this merger, the former Zion Evangelical Church became the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church, or the Leonardville E.U.B.

Soon after its seventieth anniversary in 1950, the church underwent a variety of renovations and physical improvements, including refinishing the floors, redecorating the auditorium and Sunday school rooms, the addition of a nursery, new furniture for the chancel, modernizing the kitchen, resurfacing the drives, an improved heating system, installation of a new Hammond organ and a new public address system, and new sidewalks at the parsonage.

Disaster struck on November 17, 1958, at 7:10 p.m. as Reverend William E. Tudor was in his study preparing for a special evening service, when he noticed the smell of smoke. Within moments, Rev. Tudor discovered that the church was on fire; a fire which spread so quickly that nothing could be done to contain it. By 8:25 the steeple collapsed, with the church bell ringing its last peal as it hit the ground. Nearly all of the church property and records were lost in that fire. All that remained were a few drawers of records, a projector, a typewriter and the choir robes.

It did not take the members long to make plans for the construction of a new church building. A special planning committee, along with a variety of subcommittees, handled the details. In the meantime, services were held in the Leonardville High School auditorium, and Sunday school in its classrooms. Services and Sunday school classes continued without skipping a beat, until the completion of the new church. Dedication for the new edifice took place on Palm Sunday, March 26, 1961. In planning for the future, the building committee made arrangements for a church structure that would fulfill its needs for many years to come. The new church had ample space for Sunday school classes and a large sanctuary to hold a growing congregation. This turned out to be even better planned than the members could have anticipated at the time, as this congregation would merge with another in fifteen years.

The next significant event to take place in the history of this church was another denominational merger between the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church at a conference in Dallas, Texas, in 1968, which established the United Methodist Church. When this merger took place, the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church changed its name to the Leonardville United Methodist Church; not to be confused with the First United Methodist Church of Leonardville, already in existence at that time. Obviously, two United Methodist churches in the small town of Leonardville gave rise to the question: Why not merge the two into one big Methodist church? This idea was first proposed in 1974 and was completed in 1976, forming the Leonardville United Methodist Church.

It seems that when this merger took place, the Leonardville United Methodist Church (the former E.U.B. church) may have been the dominant entity. The Leonardville United Methodist Church kept its name after the merger, and remained in the same church building, absorbing the First United Methodist Church, and celebrated its centennial in 1980, even though the origins of the former First United Methodist Church began as early as 1871.

As a footnote to the historical background of the E.U.B. and the Methodist Churches; both were episcopal in government, their doctrines had always been similar, and both used a book of Discipline that was nearly the same. As far as the establishment of churches in America was concerned, the only differences were in ethnicity and language -- one was German, the other, English. Once the E.U.B. church members (originally German-speaking immigrants) were superseded by the second generation, they were more American than their forebears, and spoke English. Once the second generation of E.U.B. church members had matured to ascendency, there was really no substantial difference between the E.U.B. and Methodist churches. Merger was the natural outcome.

Chronological Outline of the Methodist (E.U.B.) Church:

  • 1871 Methodist Episcopal Church established in Leonardville.
  • 1880 Zion Evangelical Church established Leonardville.
  • 1912 M.E. Church building struck by lightning and burned. A new church building was built the next year.
  • 1922 The United Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Association of North America (denominations) merged to form the Evangelical Church denomination.
  • 1935 Methodist Episcopal Church in Kansas closed down the Grandville Mission. Its members transferred to the Leonardville Methodist Church.
  • 1939 The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church merged to form the Methodist Church.
  • 1944 Parsonage dedicated.
  • 1946 The Evangelical Church and the United Brethren Church in Christ denominations merged to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. At this point, the Leonardville E.U.B. Church dropped the word "Zion" from its name.
  • 1958 The E.U.B. church burned.
  • 1960 New E.U.B. church completed.
  • 1968 Conference in Dallas, Texas, merging the E.U.B. Church with the Methodist Church into the United Methodist Church.
  • 1968 At the time of the merger in Dallas, the Leonardville E.U.B. changed its name to the Leonardville United Methodist Church.
  • 1976 The Leonardville United Methodist Church (formerly the Leonardville E.U.B. Church) merged with the First United Methodist Church to form the Leonardville United Methodist Church.

Scope and Content

The volume and organization of the records of the Leonardville United Methodist Church have been determined mostly by two influences: repeated mergers (both congregational and denominational) that formed the church that exists now; and fires -- one in 1912, which destroyed the Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church, and another in 1958, which burned the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church. Even though the history of these churches are over one hundred years old, the volume of material is rather sparse, as the fires destroyed many valuable records, now lost forever.

Series

Because the Leonardville United Methodist Church was formed as the result of a merger of two churches: the First United Methodist Church of Leonardville (originally known as the Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church) and the Leonardville United Methodist Church (known as the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church from 1946 until the merger of 1976), the organization of records in this manuscript collection mirrors the historical development of this church.

Series 1. Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church (First United Methodist Church of Leonardville), 1871-1976.

Series 1 contains the records of the church originally known as the Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church, whose origins began in 1871. By 1968 the name had changed to the First United Church of Leonardville. Most of the materials in Series 1 are records in bound volumes -- records of early church history, members1, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, Sunday school attendance, quarterly conference records, administrative council minutes, Ladies' Aid Society and the Women's Society of Christian Service. These bound volumes were filmed in a mostly chronological order, and a brief perusal of the Series Description will give the researcher a working knowledge of their content and arrangement.

Following the bound volumes is a fully itemized subseries on Historical Notes and Anniversaries, another containing material entitled "Memorial Gifts from 1967 to the present," and a subseries containing certificates of appreciation from the Methodist Board of Missions' Women's Division.

Series 1. Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church

Series II, spanning from 1880 to 1976, is the largest and most comprehensive series in this collection. When this congregation was first established in 1880, the congregation was composed entirely of German-speaking immigrants. Accordingly, the oldest record series, the Official Records, dating back to 1885, were written in German (at the end of this register is a brief list of German words found in the Official Records, or Kirchenbuch). These records, beginning with the Zion Evangelical Church of Leonardville, progress through the history of the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church, and continue into the era of the Leonardville United Methodist Church at the end of the twentieth century.

Membership records: dating as early as 1935 (records of members transferring in and out) are located in Series III, subseries F. Also, a comprehensive membership survey was conducted in 1959, after the church suffered a devastating fire late in 1958. This membership survey consists of a one-page questionnaire for the members to fill out, asking for such information as date and place of birth, parents' names, address, occupation, baptismal place and date, catechism attendance, membership reception, Sunday school teaching/attendance, and participation in group activities.

The biggest events in the history of the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church were the fire of 1958, the construction of a new church building from 1958 to 1960, the denominational merger of the E.U.B. and Methodist churches on 1968, and the merger of the two Methodist congregations in Leonardville in 1976. Each of these episodes is well documented in Series II of this collection.

The subseries concerning the church fire in 1958 (subseries B) contains correspondence after the event, newspaper clippings, a survey of membership information and photographs taken of the fire as it happened.

Subseries C covers the reconstruction of a new church building, and contains a wide variety of plans, blueprints, and specifications of the new structure. This subseries even has material on the chimes, the landscaping and the kitchen of the new church.

The records of the denominational merger of 1968 (a contract process first initiated in 1966) compiles subseries E, and consists of newspaper clippings on the agreement.

The last subseries on the E.U.B. (known as the Leonardville United Methodist Church since the denominational merger of 1968) pertains to the congregational merger with the First United Methodist Church of Leonardville in 1976. This subseries includes resolutions, minutes of the governing boards of both churches, church service bulletins, photographs, newspaper clippings, and historical notes on the merger.

Series III. Leonardville United Methodist Church, 1976-1999.

Series III contains the documentary heritage of the Leonardville United Methodist Church since the congregational merger of 1976. Because the L.U.M.C. has not had any more major episodes in its history since 1976, this series holds records of a more routine nature: church service bulletins, building maintenance records, general office files (mostly correspondence and committee reports), records generated by groups and societies within the church, historical notes, and membership records (including church directories, found nowhere else in the collection).

Series IV, Leonardville History

This series does not contain historical subject matter pertaining directly to the church(es). Instead, this series contains four essays concerning Leonardville and some of the prominent people and families of that town, namely: Harry Muegler, the Nanninga family, and the Swart family.

Contents List

Series Level Contents

Series 1. Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church (First United Methodist Church of Leonardville), 1871-1976.

Series II. Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church, 1880-1976.

Series III. Leonardville United Methodist Church, 1976-1999.

Series IV. Leonardville History.

Leonardville History, Jan. 1, 1865.
A Living Witness: Biography of Harry Muegler.
The Nanninga Family.
The Swart Family.

Volume/Folder Level Contents with Microfilm Roll Numbers

Series I. Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church of Leonardville, 1871-1976.

Book 1, Church Record, 1882-1976 [history, members, marriages]: MF 2414
Book 2, Membership Register, 1965-1975 [marriages, baptisms, deaths]: MF 2414
Book 3, Quarterly Conference Records, 1940-1960: MF 2414
Book 4, Quarterly Conference Records, 1959-1968: MF 2414
Book 5, Administrative Council, 1970-1975: MF 2415 (1970-1973), MF 2416 (1974-1975)
Book 6, Sunday School Attendance, 1927-1932: MF 2415
Book 7, Ladies' Auxiliary Society, 1887-1889: MF 2415
Book 8, Ladies' Aid Society, 1910: MF 2415
Book 9, Ladies' Aid Society, 1915-1923: MF 2415
Book 10, Ladies' Aid Society, 1924-1930: MF 2415
Book 11, Women's Society of Christian Service, 1944-1954: MF 2415
Book 12, Women's Society of Christian Service, 1954-1968: MF 2415
Book 13, Women's Society of Christian Service, 1968-1975: MF 2415
Book 14, Church Messenger, 1963: MF 2416

Historical Notes and Anniversaries: MF 2416

Church photographs (3)
Church service bulletin, 100 Years in Service to the Leonardville Community, October 10, 1971.
Dedication of Memorials October 10, 1971. [see also Book 1: Church Record, and Book 13: Church Messenger, 1963.]
Newspaper clippings:

Chicago Tribune
1966 Nov. 10, "Methodists O.K. Plan to End Race Bias."
1969 June 10, "Sifts History of Methodism in America."
1970 Feb. 16, "Plan to Unite Nine U.S. Churches Told."

Memorial Gifts from 1967 to the Present.
Missions, Board of. Women's Division. Certificates of Recognition, 1969 April 10.

Series II. Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church, 1880-1976.

A. 1880-1958: The Formative Years.

1 a. Official Record, 1885-1934 [recorded in German*]: MF 2416
1 b. Official Record, 1933-1999 [recorded in English]: MF 2416
2 a. Historical Notes [see also D 1, Historical Notes and Anniversaries]: MF 2416

Two anonymous accounts of the history of the United Evangelical Church of Leonardville, circa, 1960.

2 b. Historical Materials -- Misc.: MF 2416

Page 22 of The Evangelical Messenger, March 17, 1909, concerning the dedication of the Evangelical Church at Leonardville.
Program for the 49th Annual Session of the Kansas Conference of the Evangelical Association, March 20-24, 1913.

Cover of the book Seedtime and Harvest: A History of the Kansas Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
Bulletin, 70th Anniversary of the Zion Evangelical United Brethren Church, Sept. 3rd to 10th, 1950.
Dedicatory Service: Forest Park Tabernacle, Kansas Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, Topeka, Kansas, August 2, 1953.
Bulletin, June 22, 1958.
Bulletin, 75th Anniversary of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, December 4, 1955.

Membership: Transfers in and Transfers out. (see Series III F 3 -- Membership.)

3. Parsonage dedication, 1944 March 5: MF 2416
4. Photographs: MF 2416

1 photo of the Evangelical church building (built in 1884).
5 photos of the Zion Evangelical church building (built in 1908).
3 photos of the outdoor tabernacle (built in 1917).

5. Quarterly Conference Records, 1933-1956: MF 2416
6 a. Women's Missionary Society, Vols. 1-3, 1904-1960: MF 2416 (1904-1932 Oct.), MF 2417 (1932 Nov.-1960)
6 b. Women's Society of World Service, 1949-1973: MF 2417

B. 1958: The Fire

1. Correspondence: MF 2417
2. Membership information: MF 2417 (Aaaaa-Potts, G), MF 2418 (Potts, G-Zzzzz)
3. Newspaper Clipping: MF 2418
4. Photographs: MF 2418

C. 1958-1960: The Reconstruction: MF 2418

1. Planning Committee
2. Architect, Robert E. Marr -- Specifications
3. Bulletins and Budgets
4. Blueprints
5. ChimeAtrone
6. Communion Table
7. Kitchen Plans
8. Landscaping
9. Newspaper Clippings
10. Photographs
11. Remembrance Book

D. 1960-1976: The Post-reconstruction Years: MF 2418

1. Historical Notes and Anniversaries, since 1960. [see also Series II 2a Historical Notes].

Church Vocation Recruits certificates (2), May 16, 1962.
Memoranda, April 9, 1970, concerning historical records preservation and disposition.
Bulletin, 90th Anniversary, October 11, 1970.
"History of the First United Methodist Church," ca. 1972.
Newspaper clipping, October, 11-12, 1980, concerning the 100th anniversary of the Leonardville United Methodist Church.

2. Nursing Home, 1966.
3. Women's Society of Christian Service.

E. 1966-1968: Denominational Merger: MF 2418

Thirteen newspaper clippings concerning the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren, and the Methodist churches.

F. 1976: Congregational Merger: MF 2418

Resolution for Merger.
Minutes of the First United Methodist Church - 10-30-75. Change Conference.
Minutes of the Merger of First Methodist Church and United Methodist Church, November 25, 1975.
Bulletin, January 4, 1976 (front cover: wise men still study.)
Bulletin, January 4, 1976 (front cover: Ministry Sunday/Preacher/Teacher/Counselor/Administrator/Visitor)

Photo: ribbon cutting ceremony.
Interchange, January 30, 1976, "Leonardville churches merge to form new congregation: 'We Are One in Christ.'"
Historical notes: "Merger of Leonardville Churches."

Series III. Leonardville

United Methodist Church, 1976-1999.

A. Bulletins: MF 2418

1. 1976-1985 (incomplete collection).
2. undated.

B. Building maintenance records: MF 2418
C. General office files, 1976-1988. (Primarily correspondence and committee reports): MF 2418
D. Groups and Societies Within the Church: MF 2418

1. Leonardville United Methodist Women, yearbooks, 1983-1997.
2. Kansas East Conference, Certificates of Merit, 1983-1986.

E. Historical Notes and Anniversaries.

1. Bulletin, Centennial Celebration, Leonardville United Methodist Church, Sunday, October 12, 1980: MF 2418
2. The United Methodist Church, 100th Anniversary, 1880-1980: MF 2418
3. Bulletin, 110th Anniversary, Leonardville United Methodist Church, Sunday, October 14, 1990: MF 2418
4. Newspaper clipping, Sept. 28, 1995, The Riley Countian, "Leonardville United Methodist Church Celebrates 115th Anniversary": MF 2418
5. Bulletin, October 15, 1995 -- 115th anniversary: MF 2418
6. Milestones, ca. 1995: MF 2418
7. Assembled scrapbooks of Leonardville Methodist History; Vol. 1 (MF 2418) and 2 (MF 2419).

F. Membership: MF 2419

1. Directory, 1980.
2. Directory, 1989.
3. Transfers in and Transfers Out, 1935-1982.
4. Transfers in and Transfers Out, undated.

G. Official Record, 1933-1999 (see Series II A 1 b -- Official Record, 1933-1999): MF 2419

Series IV. Leonardville History: MF 2419

Leonardville History Jan. 1, 1865.
A Living Witness: Biography of Harry Muegler.
The Nanninga Family.
The Swart Family.

Related Records and Collections

German Glossary

Derzeichnis Beamten, Current officer
Glieder Derzeichnis, Current standing or current status
Kirchenbuch, Church book
Namen der Klasse, Name of class
Tauf Register, Baptismal register
Todes, Deaths Trau Register, Wedding register
Umtierender prediger, Presiding preacher

Materials cataloged separately

Seedtime and harvest: A History of the Kansas Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.

Photographs of the Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church -- the fire of 1958 and the construction of the new church building.

Materials transferred from the collection

Reproductions of the photographs in this collection have been deposited in the Photographic Section.

Index Terms

Access Points

The terms listed below may include names, places, subjects, occupations, titles, and other words describing this collection. These terms are used in the ATLAS online catalog used by the Kansas State Historical Society and affiliated libraries in Topeka as well as libraries and archives subscribing to OCLC, a national library/archives database. Searches on these words should produce a description of this collection as well as other books and collections that may be of interest.

Corporate names

Zion Evangelical Church of Leonardville (Leonardville, Kan.).
Leonardville Evangelical United Brethren Church (Leonardville, Kan.).
Leonardville Methodist Episcopal Church (Leonardville, Kan.).
First United Methodist Church of Leonardville (Leonardville, Kan.).

Geographic names

Leonardville (Kan.) -- Churches.
Leonardville (Kan.) -- History.

Subjects

Church Records and Registers (Leonardville, Kan.).
Methodist Churches (Leonardville, Kan).

Additional Information for Researchers

Acquisition information

Leonardville United Methodist Church, loan, 1999 manuscript collection no. 5014.

Provenance

Loaned by the Leonardville United Methodist Church in 1999 for arrangement and description and for microfilming.

Restrictions on access

None

Copyright/Publication rights

The Kansas State Historical Society does not own literary property rights to these records.

Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (title 17, U.S. Code). The user is cautioned that the publication of the contents of this microfilm may be construed as constituting a violation of literary property rights. These rights derive from the principle of common law, affirmed in the copyright law of 1976 as amended, that the writer of an unpublished letter or other manuscript has the sole right to publish the contents thereof unless he or she affirmatively parts with that right; the right descends to his or her legal heirs regardless of the ownership of the physical manuscript itself. It is the responsibility of a user or his or her publisher to secure the permission of the owner of literary property rights in unpublished writing.

Alternate form available

Original records are in the possession of Leonardville United Methodist Church (Leonardville, Kan.)

Preferred citation

Records of the Leonardville United Methodist Churct (Leonardville, Kan.), 1882-1999, microfilm MF 2414-MF 2419, Library and Archives Division, Kansas State Historical Society.

Accruals

In the future, Leonardville United Methodist Church may send additional records to the Kansas State Historical Society for filming.

Processing information

Processed by Robert A. McInnes in 1999. Microfilmed in 1999 by the Kansas State Historical Society (Topeka) (lab. no. 49053).

Sources

The information for compiling the Historical, and Scope and Content Notes came from the records of the Leonardville United Methodist Church (and this church's antecedents) -- specifically from the historical notes and materials generated by its anniversaries. Information concerning the church denominations (the Evangelical Church, the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church) came primarily from the Handbook of Denominations, by Frank S. Mead.

Endnotes

1 Membership records

Membership records are located in a variety of places in this collection, as the church is the product of the joining of a number of different congregations over the years. Information on membership is in: Series 1, Book 1, Church Record, 1882-1976; Book 2, Membership Register, 1965-1975; Book 13, Church Messenger; Series 2 A 1, Official Records, Volumes 1 and 2 (the first volume is recorded in German); Series II B 2 Membership Information; and Series III F. Membership.

2 Historical Notes and Anniversaries

Subseries bearing the title Historical Notes and Anniversaries appear in four different locations in this collection, because the churches whose records are wherein contained have grown and changed so much over the years. The second series, containing the records of the Leonardville E.U.B. Church, has two different subseries on historical notes: the first predates the landmark fire of 1958; the other is a subseries postdating the fire, and developed in conjunction with church anniversaries. The last subseries on church historical notes and anniversaries appears in Series III after the two churches merged in 1976. Most of the material in this subseries was also made as the result of church anniversaries, namely the 100th, 110th and 115th anniversaries. The largest and most comprehensive compilations of historical notes are the Assembled Scrapbooks, Volumes 1 and 2, found in Series III. Some of the material in these scrapbooks are duplicates of other historical notes found elsewhere in the collection. Still, there is substantial materials in these scrapbooks which are unique and not found anywhere else in the collection, meriting their filming along with other historical notes and materials.