|  Prairie
Churches of Bon Homme County, Dakota Territory: A Varicolored Tunic
Review by Edna Boardman, Bismarck, North Dakota
Of 60 churches that once opened their doors in Bon Homme County
in
southeastern South Dakota, five remain, three of them dating to
the
county’s settlement period. Some of the persons who built
the original
churches came from the eastern United States in the wake of the
Civil
War. Others, including families who came directly from the Old Country,
were Norwegians, Hollanders, Czechs, Irish, English, Scots, and
Poles.
A large contingent was made up of Germans whose families had lived
in
Russia for about a century, now known as Germans from Russia. The
area
had a scattering of Indians, most of whom had been obliged to move
to
reservations, blacks, and Jews.
The denominations were as varied as the ethnic roots of the settlers:
Reformed, Congregational, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, Evangelical
Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, Mennonite, and Hutterite Anabaptist. A
few
others came and went, leaving barely a trace.
When Kinsley identified Bon Homme County’s churches and located
information about them, she faced the dilemma of what to include.
She
opted for brevity. She clusters them by denomination, provides black
and white pictures where possible, tells a bit about their founding
and
life span, and gives the names of the charter members and earliest
ministers. For a very few churches, she lists all of the ministers.
In
the case of lesser-known denominations, such as Hutterites, she
includes a thumbnail history of the group. She tells a bit more
than
the names of the persons involved in the creation of some of the
churches. Many of the churches themselves were made of a local material
called chalkrock, which may not have been as easy to work as the
name
suggests.
Persons with an interest in prairie churches or who had family
who
settled in eastern South Dakota will enjoy this book and thank Kinsley
for her considerable work in putting it together. For their
convenience, she has even indexed the names.
|
