Morton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Morton, Texas, USA)
The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, settlement at Morton, Texas, USA began in 1926 when Minister P. W. Decker and his family of 11 children from Verden, Oklahoma, moved to Morton. The Deckers settled in an old ranch house on the open prairie. Soon others moved in from Oklahoma, among whom were Allen and Andrew Schmidt with their families.
Morton was located 60 miles west of Lubbock and about 16 miles from the New Mexico border. The land purchased was flat virgin prairie with sagebrush and mesquite and needed to be broken before being cultivated. Farming proved to be very difficult with dry summers, cold winters, and very windy weather at times. Some common crops raised were cotton, maize, cane, and corn. Buffalo grass pasture was plentiful with nearly open range. Because of a lack of fences, cattle and sheep were herded and brought in each night. Coyotes were plentiful to menace sheep herds.
After a few years, others began moving in, drawn by the need for cotton pickers. Cotton picking was an important time. The school was recessed for several weeks, and picking crews came from all over, many from Mexico. A common wage for a picker was 50 cents per hundredweight. The crews usually had a foreman with a truck to haul the cotton to the gin.
In the early 1930s, sand storms and dry weather arrived. Soon people began looking for other places to locate. In 1938 the settlement disbanded, and most of the people moved to DeRidder, Louisiana.
The group at Morton never built a church building. They met in homes or alternated with the Littlefield, Texas, settlement 30 miles away, where there was a church building.
Bibliography
Histories of the congregations. 3rd. ed. Moundridge, Kansas: Gospel Publishers, 1999: 511-512.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | March 2021 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Morton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Morton, Texas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2021. Web. 27 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Morton_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_(Morton,_Texas,_USA)&oldid=170741.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (March 2021). Morton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Morton, Texas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Morton_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_(Morton,_Texas,_USA)&oldid=170741.
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