Whitewater (Kansas, USA)
Whitewater, Kansas, is located in Butler County southeast of the center of the state. Established in 1878, it had a population in 1957 of 510 (2000 pop., 653). In the town is found the Swiss Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite Church [GCM]); three more churches (all GCM), Emmaus, Grace Hill (Gnadenberg), and Zion at Elbing, are within a ten-mile radius of Whitewater.
The first settlement of Mennonites in this area was made in the Grace Hill community in the winter of 1874-75, by Mennonites coming from Michalin, Polish Russia. This church had a membership of 210 in 1957. The postal center of the community in 1875 was Sheldon, half a mile east and one mile south of the Grace Hill church. After a few years it ceased to exist. In 1876 a group from the Heubuden congregation in West Prussia arrived, founding the Emmaus church, located southeast of Whitewater. In 1957 this church had a membership of 367. Seven miles north of Whitewater another group from Prussia organized a church in 1883. Later the Rock Island Railroad was built and the village here was called Elbing, after Elbing in Prussia. The Zion Mennonite Church in Elbing had a membership of 155 in 1957. Elbing became the location of Berean Academy, an independent Christian high school opened in September 1946. The Swiss Mennonite group settled in the area immediately north of Whitewater in 1883. Until 1953 the church was located north of Whitewater, but is now in the town. In 1957 it had a membership of 146.
| Author(s) | John F Schmidt |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Schmidt, John F. "Whitewater (Kansas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Whitewater_(Kansas,_USA)&oldid=170367.
APA style
Schmidt, John F. (1959). Whitewater (Kansas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Whitewater_(Kansas,_USA)&oldid=170367.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 940. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.