Rev. Thomas Johnson

Rev. Thomas Johnson

Rev. Thomas Johnson (1802-1865) = Circuit Rider, Missionary. Best known for his work at the Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission Manuel Training School on the Santa Fe Trail in Fairway, KS. Johnson County, Kansas was named in his honor. He was born in Nelson County, Virginia, July 11. His brother, Rev. William Johnson (1805-1842), also served as a missionary.

Thomas married Sarah Davis (1810-1873) at Clarksville, MO. Several of their children’s names were Ann E., Alexander McAllister, Edna, Eliza, Cora, Mary Cummins, and William McKendree. Eliza later married John Bristol Wornall.

The 1808 treaty with the Osage Indians states the reservation boundary was between Missouri and Kansas territories. Congress, in 1819, passed the Civilization Fund, making $10,000 available annually for instructing Indians in agriculture, literacy, and other such pursuits. Much of the money was given to church agencies. The Delaware and Shawnee were forcibly relocated to eastern Kansas (present-day Wyandotte County). In 1830, the same year he married Sarah, Thomas moved to a village called Turner to preach the gospel. He built a log house on a hill south of the Kansas river.

In October of 1839, at the Missouri Methodist Conference at Fayette, Mo., Rev. Thomas Johnson was appointed as the superintendent of the Indian Mission district and to the Shawnee Mission (est. 1839-1862) on the Santa Fe Trail. Pioneer children attended school there also. At its height, there were sixteen buildings on 2000 acres.

During 1855, the Kansas territorial governor, Andrew H. Reeder appointed the Shawnee Indian Mission as the second capitol of the Kansas Territory (1855-1856) and the legislature met there. Hostilities were hot preceding the Civil War on the border. Johnson was shot near midnight of New Year’s Day as he answered the door to someone asking directions and died shortly after. He was quietly buried in the mission’s cemetery.

More to Read:

1. Annals of Shawnee Methodist Mission. Compiled by Martha B. Caldwell. Kansas State Historical Society. Topeka, KS. 1977.

2. Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Relating to Kansas Indian Schools, 1837-1879. U.S. Office of Indian Affairs.

3. Civil War on the Western Border, 1854-1865. Jay Monaghan. Bonanza Books, NY; MCMLV.

4. Here Lies Kansas City. Wilda Sandy. 1984.

5. History of White Christian Church: 1832-1996, Wyandotte Co, KS. Cemetery Index

6. History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and Its People. Perl W. Morgan. 1911.

7. Historic Johnson County, By Elizabeth E. Barnes. Neff Pub, Shawnee Mission, KS; 1969.

8. Opening the Western Frontier; Thomas Johnson and the Shawnee Indian Mission. Joanne C. Eakin.

9.  Official Kansas Territorial Legislature, Shawnee (1854-55)

10. National Historic Trails Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide: Western Missouri Through Northeastern Kansas, National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior, Sept. 2005. 

11. Findagrave #35605339

Historical Note: Thomas' mother-in-law was captured by the British and the Shawnee Indians in Kentucky during the Ruddell Station raid in 1780. 

Places to see in Mo & KS.

1. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (portrait of Roma Johnson Wornall), 4525 Oak St, Kansas City, MO

2. White Christian Church/Delaware Indian Mission, 2200 N. 85th St., Kansas City, Wyandotte County, KS.

3. Shawnee Indian Mission Historic Site & Museum, 3403 W. 53rd, Fairway, KS.

4. Shawnee Methodist Mission Cemetery (1839-1930), 3201 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, Shawnee Twp, Johnson, KS

5. Old Mission United Methodist Church

6. Edna Johnson Anderson, Elmwood Cemetery

7. John Wornall House Museum, 6115 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO 

Historical Note: Rev. Thomas Johnson performed the marriage of Daniel Boone's grandson, Daniel Boone III and his bride, Mary Philabert on 19 January 1832. 

Citation: "Rev. Thomas Johnson." Written by Dolores J. Rush. 2 July 2011. History Nut of Missouri, USA. 

Dr. Johnston Lykins

Dr. Johnston Lykins (1800-1876) = Medical Missionary. Kansas City’s First Mayor (1853-1854). Born in Virginia on August 15. Dr. Lykins received his medical education at Transylvania College (f. 1780), in Lexington, Kentucky.

Dr. Lykins came west in 1831, settling in the Kansas City area as a medical missionary. He is said to have accompanied the Shawnee Indians on their long trek from Michigan to the territory of Kansas. The Federal government began setting aside reservations as early as 1786, but on May 28, 1829, Congress gave President Jackson permission to move various Indian tribes such as the Shawnee and the Delaware to the new Kansas territory.

Dr. Lykins compiled a Shawnee-English dictionary and written alphabet to enable the Shawnees to read his translation of the Bible. He also vaccinated his flock against smallpox.

He was instrumental in organizing First Baptist Church, formerly at 5th and West Streets, which is presently located at Red Bridge and Wornall roads in south Kansas City. Charter members were: Robert and Mary A. Holmes, T.M. and Sarah J. James, A.L. and Elizabeth M. Martin, D.L.Mimms, Dr. Johnston, Martha, and Julia Lykins, Rev. R.S.and Elvira Thomas.

Johnston’s first wife was Delilah McCoy, the daughter of Baptist missionary Elder Isaac McCoy. She died of tuberculosis at the Pottawatomie Indian Reservation in 1844. He had one son and daughter, Julia, who married Dr. T.S. Case. He married his second wife, Martha A. “Mattie” Livingston in 1851. He built a two story, 14 room, red brick mansion which was completed in 1857 at 12th and Broadway. He had invested in land, but lost his wealth in the economic collapse during the 1870s and died while still in bankruptcy. Afterwards, Mattie converted the house into a boarding school for girls. It was sold and moved two years before her death in 1889.

More to Read:

1. Blue River Baptist Association Missouri. By Marshall Louis Mertens and O.P. Joyce. Brown-White-Lowell Press, Kansas City, MO. 1947.

2. Article abt. Lykins Translation of the Gospel of Matthew

3. A Century of Faith: The Story of the First Baptist, Kansas City, MO. 1855-1955. By Otto F. Dubach & Virginia Sheaff.

4. Transylvania University History

5. A Condensed History of the Kansas City Area: Its Mayors and Some V.I.P.s 1850-1950 ” Assembled by George Fuller Green. City Historian. The Lowell Press; Kansas City, MO. 1968.

6. History of Kansas City, 1886. T. S. Case.

7. The History of Jackson County, Missouri. Kansas City, MO; Union Historical Company, Birdsall, Williams & Co., 1881. Reprinted: Cape Girardeau, MO, Ramfre Press, 1966.

8. John Brown and the Legend of Fifty-Six. By James Claude Malin. 1942.

9. Johnston Lykin's Journal

10. Here Lies Kansas City: A Collection of our City’s Notables and Their Final Resting Places. Wilda Sandy, 1984. and Union Cemetery Historical Society Walking Tour Map.
11. Polk Family & Kinsmen. By William Harrison Polk (1843- ), Louisville Press, 1912. 
12. Wiki List of Kansas City Mayors and Biography

13. “Missouri Star: The Life and Times of Martha A. “Mattie” Livingston Lykins Bingham. By Dr. Rose Ann Findlen. 2011. 
14. Findagrave #6012821


Historical Note: The Lykin's mansion on Quality Hill stood until 1989.

Places to see in Mo & KS.:

1. Red Bridge Baptist Church Marker, 100 W. Red Bridge Road, South Kansas City, MO.

2. Johnston E. Lykins Square, 8th Street, Myrtle Ave., KCMO

3. Stand on the SW corner of 12th and Washington streets, Kansas City where Lykins house once stood.

4.. Lykins Community Center, 4012 E. 10th Street, 816-784-2200 (was named in his honor)

5. Pottawatomie Baptist Manual Labor School, 1847-1859, Kansas History Center near Topeka
6. Westport Historical Society, 4000 Baltimore Ave, Kansas City

7. Union Cemetery, 227 East 28th Terr. Kansas City. 64108


Lykins' Family:

1. The Lykin's Family Bible is being held in the Kansas City Library Collections. 
2. Family:  Rev. David Lykins
3. David Lykin's Baptist Wea Mission
4. Daughter: Julia Lykins Case (1839-1872), Elmwood Cemetery, 4900 Truman Road, Kansas City, Mo.

Citation: "Dr. Johnston Lykins." Written by Dolores J. Rush. 2 July 2011. History Nut of Missouri, USA. 

Haldor Lillenas

Haldor Lillenas

Haldor Lillenas (1885-1959) = Pastor, Composer, Publishing. Best known for his (3000 +) hymns. Haldor Lillenas was born in the country of Norway on the island Stord, south of Bergen on November 19. His family immigrated to America when Haldor was two, eventually settling in Minnesota.

In 1906, Haldor experienced a conversion at the Peniel Mission in Astoria, OR. He joined the Nazarene church and moved to Deets Bible College (future Point Loma Nazarene University) in Los Angeles, CA where he met his future wife, Bertha Mae (1889-1945) through one of the college’s music groups. She was the second child of a Methodist pastor, W.C. Wilson. Her mother died in 1893 and her father remarried two years later. Then they moved from Kentucky to Pasadena, CA after her father joined the Church of the Nazarene in 1905. Haldor and Bertha married in 1910. They became proud parents of Evangeline and Wendell.

Haldor and Bertha, both ordained, shared the preaching and music ministries in each of their pastorates. They couldn't afford a piano, so bought a "wheezy little organ" for $5.00 from a neighbor and wrote several songs on that instrument. They served in California (1910-14, 1920-23); Illinois (1916-19); Texas (1919-20); and Indiana (1923-26). He founded his own music publishing company, which Nazarene Publishing house in Kansas City purchased as a subsidiary in 1930.

They moved to central Missouri near the Lake of the Ozarks and built a stone house which they called Melody Lane in the 1940s. Haldor would travel to Kansas City by train one day a week for meetings at the publishing house, but composed music in his home office.

After Bertha’s death, he married Lola Kellogg. He died in 1959 after a car accident and was buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, MO.

More to Read:
1. Down Melody Lane: An Autobiography. by Haldor Lillenas. Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, MO. 1953. Google Books.

2. Called Into Holiness. By W. T. Purkiser. Nazarene Publishing House, 1983. Vols. 1, 2

3. Hymns: Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs. By Wm. J. & Ardythe Peterson. Tyndale, 2006.

4. Nazarene Roots: Pastors, Prophets, Revivalists & Reformers. By Stan Ingersol. Beacon Hill Press, 2009.

5. The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Iberia Church of the Nazarene: 1908 - 1983, A History. Main & High Street, PO Box 152, Iberia, MO 65386. Rev. Aldean Wood, Pastor.

6. Awakening Messages and Stirring Experiences Including a Brief Sketch of His Sainted Wife, Evangeline. W.L.Surbrook, President of Kingwood Holiness College, Kingswood, KY, 1930. (contains a copy of one of Haldor's poems)

7. Kansas City Star-Times Obituary, August 18, 1959. 
8. "Our Nazarene Foremothers: The Clergy-Couple Who Birthed a Publishing Company."
By Stan Ingersol. New Horizons Magazine: Resources for Nazarene Clergywomen. 2004. p. 8-9.  USA Canada Region.org Newsletter 
9. "The Nazarene Connection with Indianapolis: Lillenas Publishing Company." Daily Summary. 26 Jun 2017. No.06 p. 3. www.nazarene.org
10. Nazarene Women and Religion: Sources on Clergy and Lay Women in the Church. By Stan Ingersol. Kansas City, MO.
11.  Great Gospel Songs: Designed for Use in All Services of the Church. By Haldor Lillenas. Nazarene Publishing House, Kansas City, MO. 1929. Internet Archive.
12. "The Carpenter of Nazareth (Poem)" by Haldor Lillenas. Herald of Holiness, Kansas City, MO. 20 April 1935. Vol. 24, No. 5. p. 12. Wesleyan-Holiness Digital Library
13. A Partial List of Haldor's many songs
14. Bertha's Death Certificate #17547
15. Findagrave # 6872074


An Audio Recording -- "It Is Glory Just to Walk With Him - A Hymn by Avis M. Burgeson & Haldor Lillenas, 1918.

Places to Visit in MO. & KS.

1. NOTE: Melody Lane Estates, in Miller County, MO. is a private residence.

2. Iberia Church of the Nazarene, Iberia, MO.

3. Nazarene Global Ministry Center & Archives, 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, KS. 66220, 913-577-2970 www.nazarene.org (guided tours by appointment)

4. Forest Hill Cemetery, 6901 Troost Ave., Kansas City

Citation: "Haldor Lillenas." Written by Dolores J. Rush, 27 June 2011. History Nut of Missouri, USA.