(Soddy)
used as church located just east of the Norman Cemetery fence (S/2 12-11-17).
There is still a mound where the sod building sat.
Word of mouth was that it was a sod home, then used as a church sometime
near the years 1872 – 1874. By
the 1905 Map, there was no longer a residence or building shown.
Was
founded by Rev. Allen L King. In the minutes of the Codell Baptist Church, it was noted
that on June 23, 1883 some 16 “brethren and sisters residing in the vicinity
of the Liberty Log schoolhouse” (Upper Turkville) requested “letters of
dismissal for the purpose of forming a Baptist Church in that community.”
The 16 were Elder Allen L King, 8 members of his family; his wife,
Elizabeth and his daughters, Ladora, Cora, Lucinda and Susan, Susan’s husband,
Ben Turk and their daughters, Mary E & Amanda Turk and the 7 others were,
Jane & Alice Marshall, William John, Hester Hopper, Minnie & Josie Henry
and Barbara E Wasson. Then 4 years
later, on March 21, 1887 Rev. AL King & his wife, his daughter Cora and
son-in-law A F Stone and his daughter Lucinda presented letters of dismissal
from Turkville Church and were accepted at Codell.
One year later in March 1893, Mr. & Mrs. AL King, Belle King, Mr.
& Mrs. AF Stone and Mrs. Kate Mock received letters of dismissal from Codell
and returned to the Turkville Baptist Church.
The First Baptist Church of
Turkville framed its charter on May 18, 1900, with the trustees being Rev.
King & his son-in-laws; AF Stone, Fred A Bemis and PF Mock; Ben Hopper, HJ
Rasmussen, Roy Sites and Rev AL Hobbs. In
1908 a new board consisting of FA Bemis, PF Mock, Ben Hopper, Richard A Brumitt
& NP Rasmussen signed an agreement in July with PF & Lucinda (King)
Mock, whom would donate an acre of land, for which to build a new church
building. The building was built in 1909 and the church obtained its deed in
1920, but the church closed in 1926 according to history books – but an obit
for Lydia Elizabeth (White) (McCarroll) King states . “Funeral services were held at the Baptist Church at
Turkville, Monday am by Rev. Davey of Hays”
which was held January 1927. Another
obit for Victor Hugo Simpson states for April 1929, “, Funeral services
were held in the Turkville Church and his body was laid to rest in the Turkville
Cemetery.” I would have to ask, when did the church actually close? In doing my
research I have found that by 1934 they were no longer providing funeral
services in the Turkville Church, because the stone walls were dismantled,
hauled and used to construct the First Baptist Church in Ellis, Ks.
The pulpit and pews were also taken to Ellis. The church records of the
Turkville Baptist Church (records that were in the possession of Mrs. Ruth
Brumitt Boys, Logan, KS in 1969 gives the following data: “The Turkville
Baptist Church Charter is dated May 2, 1902.
Trustees: A F Stone, Richard Brumitt (husband of Lucinda Belle King &
father of Mrs. Ruth Brumitt (Ralph) Boys), George W Stone (brother of AF Stone)
and Ben Hopper.” On Sunday, March 28, 1909, Turkville Baptist Church dedicated
its first house of Worship. It was built of native limestone quarried from
nearby hills. It was built on an
acre of ground donated by Philip F & Ladora Kate (King) Mock in the Saline
River Valley area near the Saline River. All
previous services had been held in the limestone schoolhouse of District # 9
(Turkville, originally Liberty Log School)
The majority of the members of this church were descendants of A L King.
Ironically, the first funeral held in the newly built church was that of
Rev. A L King on November 5, 1909.
Today only a cement
foundation with a lone tree growing up where the foyer/door entrance would have
been indicates where the Church once stood. (SW/4 9-11-17)
Turkville Baptist Church- 1920’s Turkville Baptist Church 1909
Foundation of Turkville Baptist Church – 2003
First Baptist Church-Built 1934 Ellis, KS
From Stones of Turkville Baptist Church
Ellis County Farmer, Thursday, June 4, 1953 – Turkville News by Friendly Neighbors Club
Turkville Sunday school had an attendance of 32. Beverly Collis led the singing with Glenna Dee Bradley at the Piano.
(If the church
was gone, where was the Turkville Sunday School held?
Possibly in the Turkville Schoolhouse? Or did they call the church in Ellis by the name of Turkville?)
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Slimmer Langholz