The Shawnee Baptist Mission Church and Graveyard

In 1929, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization placed a stone commemorating the Shawnee Baptist Mission at what is today 55th and Walmer St. in Mission, Ks. It was placed here by mistake, since the actual mission site was near 49th and Nall in neighboring Roeland Park. However, this was the location of the mission's church and graveyard. The church was built in 1848 adjacent to an existing Shawnee graveyard by Dr. Francis Barker, the last superintendent of the Shawnee Baptist Mission. Here he lead a congregation of Shawnees, freed former enslaved people, who worked at the mission and the white missionaries and their families. When the Shawnee Baptist Mission closed in 1855, the church remained but was destroyed during the Civil War.

The Shawnee Baptist Mission was founded in 1831 near present day 49th and Nall in Roeland Park, Ks. It was a day school and in addition to religious instruction, it taught a small number of Shawnee children to read and write in their native language as well as the skills needed to become a subsistence farmer such as agriculture, blacksmithing and carpentry. The mission also established the first printing press in the Indian Territory and created books (mainly religious tracts) in several different native languages.

In 1838, Dr. Francis Barker became the superintendent of the mission. He built a small church about a half mile southwest of the mission next to an existing Shawnee graveyard. It was located on the Santa Fe Trail shortly before it turned south towards Olathe at the point where the California Road branched off to the west. Dr. Barker was an abolitionist, which set him at odds with the missionaries at the nearby Shawnee Methodist Mission. He purchased the freedom of as many as 9 enslaved people, some of whom later worked at the mission and became members of this church.

The mission closed in 1855 and its buildings and church were abandoned. The mission buildings were destroyed during the Civil War. The site of the church and graveyard can be found the 1874 Historic Atlas of Johnson County, which marks the church as an abandoned building. It is unknown what eventually happened to the church or graveyard. They do not appear on subsequent maps.

In 1929, Baptist Churches from all parts of Kansas held a convention in Kansas City, Kansas celebrating 100 years in the Indian Territory and later the State of Kansas. To celebrate this milestone, the Olathe chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned a stone commemorating the Shawnee Baptist Mission and placed it at the site of the Baptist Church and Shawnee Graveyard. The text of the stone has lead to confusion for modern historians and local residents.

"To commemorate Baptist Mission to Shawnee Indians. Founded 1831. First Printing 1833. Moved to this site 1848"

In actuality, the mission itself never moved from its original location and the stone sits on the site of the later church.

Dr. Rev. Francis Baker. Vertical File of documents. Watkins Museum of History, Lawrence Ks.

"A Lawrence Man Believes His Wife the oldest Native Born Kansas." The Kansas City Star (Kansas City) May 22nd, 1924. .6.

"Baptists Want to erect monument to Francis Barker." Lawrence Weekly World (Lawrence, Ks. ) October 11th, 1906. .

"Seventy-Three Years Old and Always a Kansan." Topeka Daily Capital Sun (Topeka, Ks.) November 21st, 1915.

Barker Neighborhood Named for Missionary to Indians. Bald Eagle, the Lecompton Historical Society Newsletter. Vol. 25, Issue 2. Summer 1999. Lecompton, Ks.

Biles, Jan. Secret Network in Kansas Helped Blacks Escape Slavery, CJONLINE. September 14th, 2015. Accessed September 6th, 2024. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2015/09/14/secret-network-kansas-helped-blacks-escape-slavery/16610711007/.

"Baptists in Kansas City, Kansas." The Kansas City Times (Kansas City, Mo) October 18th, 1929. .26.